‘DELIGHTED’ drinkers raised a glass yesterday as efforts to bring a beloved Oxford pub back to life moved another step closer.

The Dodo Pub Company is still in the final stages of agreeing a deal to reopen the Somerset in Marston Road but director Chris Manners joined residents at a pop-up pub event to share their vision for the building.

He said: “It’s the first chance we’ve had to show anyone the designs. Marston residents have been incredibly supportive and we can’t wait to get the pub open.”

Mr Manners also revealed that, if everything went as planned, they would be serving the first punters by the end of March.

The Oxford-based group already runs Jericho’s Rickety Press and East Oxford’s Rusty Bicycle and is planning a similar transformation for the Somerset.

The idea went down well with Marston residents, who have campaigned for three years to get the pints flowing once more at the empty boozer.

Susannah Griffiths, 40, who lives on nearby Purcell Road, said: “I’m thrilled to bits.

"I go to the Rusty Bike and really like what they are doing there to give it a community feel.”

The mother-of-one added she was pleased that the Somerset would be an ‘all day space’, targetting students and young families at different times of the day.

A partnership with the Missing Bean cafe, who were also at the pop-up event, will help attract the breakfast crowd while a menu including pizzas and burgers will be available later in the day.

Quizzes and weekly market in the pub’s car park have also been suggested as ways to make the most of the space.

Anna Jenkins, 46, said the match-up between Dodo and the Somerset was ‘more positive than we could have hoped for’, adding: “We just wanted to find a landlord but this is perfect.

“The previous business had erratic hours and quite niche food so I think this will work much better.”

Her friend Angela Wenham, 39, agreed saying: “We used to meet for a drink every Friday, it was the perfect central meeting point in Marston, and it has been a real loss to the community since it closed.”

The pop-up event was a proud moment for Wendy Twist, one of the residents behind the Save our Somerset campaign which has worked tirelessly to rejuvenate the pub.

She said residents had been in talks with Dodo for a long time about either buying or taking on the lease and was ‘delighted’ to see things moving ahead. She added: “I think it really shows what a community can do when it comes together.”